Rail pad, is a rail rubber plate between the rail tie plate and foot of the rail, made of elastic polyurethane, which is interposed between steel rails and sleepers to reduce friction and impact. Rail pads are fastened within a fastening system by screw spikes or rail bolts into the sleeper ties. It is designed to increase the elasticity of the superstructure, reduce shock and vibration in the rail system. Rail pad is made up of rubber or plastic is to dampen the shocks and vibration effecting on the train and track. Usually starting with setting a low stiffness in order to make spring clip has a larger relative deformation, which can guarantees the rail pad maintaining in close contact with the rail, make the rail pad play a better role.
How are rail rubber plates manufactured?
Rail rubber plates are made by mixing specific rubber compounds with additives, shaping them using hot-press or injection molding, curing (vulcanizing) under heat and pressure for strength, and then trimming and quality testing to ensure they meet precise stiffness, durability, and dimensional needs for railway use, providing shock absorption and load distribution.
- Rubber compound preparation
- Mixed by an internal mixer or a two-roll mill. In terms of the internal mixer, the raw materials are processed by single or double stage, during which the masterbatch prepared ahead of time is finalized by adding curing agents to the twin roll mill.
- Shaping and curing
- Compression or Injection molding
- End products trimming
- Ready for use
Studded and Grooved Rail Pad
Studded and grooved rail pads can adapt to the increasing traction and axle loads of heavy-haul trains as the rail transit industry fast developing. High resilience is provided by flexural and shear deformation, the elastic recovery rate is fast. What's more, under the action of vertical dynamic force, the deformation seismic amplitude is large and the dynamic stiffness is low.
Studded rail pad
The studded design together with its natural or synthetic elastomer material leads to high resilience and abrasion resistance. They can also provide excellent impact attenuation, noise suppression, extended track, and ballast life. Because they can adapt to higher speeds and improve passenger comfort, studded rail pads become a very common choice across the world.
Grooved rail pad
There are grooves on the upper surface of the rubber pad, which can ensure that the bottom of the rail is always in close contact with the rubber pad, reducing the wear of the rubber pad. The middle of the rubber pad is set with a steel sheet to strengthen the lateral stiffness of the rubber pad. The thickness of the steel sheet is very thin, which is easy to roll up for transportation.
GNEE RAIL have developed a range of high-performance elastic rail pads for stiffness requirements and various application areas-from trams through standard gauge railways to heavy haul lines, especially those for E-type rail fastening systems and SKL type rail fastening systems with material of HDPE/EVA/Rubber, with following properties respectively.
| Raw Material | Rubber, EVA, TPEE, HDPE |
| Standard | UIC, AREMA, TB/T2626-95 |
| Application | 43kg/m, 50kg/m, 60kg/m, 75kg/m,115RE, UIC54, UIC60, S49 |
| Model number | 43-7-7, 43-10-7, 50-7-9, 50-10-9, 60-10-17, 60-12-17 |
| Operating temperature | -50~70 degrees |
| Certificate | MSDS, ROHS, REACH |
| Notes | They should be stored in a clean, ventilated place. Don't be in direct sunlight, and keep away from the heat source and chemical reagent. Don't touch the oil, organic solvent, and other chemicals. Banned exposure. |